


Losing Track

by fracnkie



Series: MCU (Mechanisms Cinematic Universe) [3]
Category: The Bifrost Incident - The Mechanisms (Album), The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Disabled Marius von Raum, Eldritch Chanting, Guns, I finally get to write a fucking fight scene I'm so hyped, M/M, Multi, Nonbinary Lyfrassier Edda, Odin does stab a corpse, Other, Polyamorous Mechanisms (The Mechanisms), Rated teen for violence, minor emetophobia warning for chap 3, she has basically established lyf fanon how am I not supposed to use the empathy trait?, temporary(?) character death, that question mark isn't elaborated within the story or maybe at all, the side effects of eldritch evocations that you didn't mean to interrupt, y'all know I stole the empathy thing from alienea but can you blame me?, yes I added another chapter for the sole reason of writing more fight scenes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:46:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25125664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fracnkie/pseuds/fracnkie
Summary: They say that 75% of supervillain attacks happen without warning in broad daylight. Those results may be slightly skewed as they count the Rose Reds as supervillains when they’re really just nuisances without proper sentience bar a few exceptions like Old Rosie and Briar Rose. That statistic isn’t supposed to spark fear in the general populace but serves as more of a warning that sometimes stuff happens and you just have to be on your toes. Most people carry around some form of self-defense: knives, pepper spray, baseball bats, batons, low-grade tasers, etc.When Lyfrassier Edda wanders to the trainyard, as they do quite regularly, they tend to bring a police-grade stun gun. It’s not entirely legal but no one has found out so it’s not like it matters all that much. What they don’t know won’t hurt them.They remember to bring it with them when they hear a chanting voice from around the corner.
Relationships: Drumbot Brian/Lyfrassir Edda, Drumbot Brian/Marius von Raum, Lyfrassir Edda/Marius von Raum
Series: MCU (Mechanisms Cinematic Universe) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1797709
Comments: 41
Kudos: 182





	1. Red Signal

They say that 75% of supervillain attacks happen without warning in broad daylight. Those results may be slightly skewed as they count the Rose Reds as supervillains when they’re really just nuisances without proper sentience bar a few exceptions like Old Rosie and Briar Rose. That statistic isn’t supposed to spark fear in the general populace but serves as more of a warning that sometimes stuff happens and you just have to be on your toes. Most people carry around some form of self-defense: knives, pepper spray, baseball bats, batons, low-grade tasers, etc. Seeing someone with a blunt weapon sticking out of their backpack isn’t questioned and knives aren’t taken as often for concerts and sports games when you’re in a lot more danger of being attacked by some Rose Red or a GRAIL Knight than some idiot with a knife.

When Lyfrassir Edda wanders to the trainyard, as they do quite regularly, they tend to bring a police-grade stun gun. It’s not entirely legal, but no one has found out so it’s not like it matters all that much. What they don’t know won’t hurt them.

As it is, they don’t really think of the stun gun or the statistics or even the possibility of a Rose Red attack among the scrap metal and broken train cars. They sit with their back to an overturned crate, legs pulled up to set a notebook on his knees to write in. They do this often enough. The train yard is quiet, secluded, and they aren’t often disturbed unless Marius is particularly bored at his own house. Even then, Marius usually shoots Lyf a text asking if they’re at the trainyard before showing up so Lyf has enough time to hide their poetry notebook and just act like they’re listening to music and hanging out instead of doing something embarrassing.

They’re surprised, then, to hear a voice drift through the silent trainyard. They hadn’t heard it before and with how quiet it is here that’s somewhat abnormal. Panic spikes and they tense up, looking around. They glance over rusted, colorful cargo crates and broken train cars with graffiti painting their once pristine exteriors. Nothing moves, nothing pops out, but they still hear that whispered voice coming from somewhere.

Eventually, rightly on edge, they stand up. They tuck their notebook under their arm and start to walk away. Or, at least they should walk away. As often as Lyf has heard the phrase “curiosity killed the cat” they always tried to cling to the part about “satisfaction bringing it back.” Their job as a journalist was to know things, to record things, to investigate, so in all previous encounters, their curiosity was never a bad thing. They’re not entirely stupid, though, so they shove their notebook into their back and take out the stun gun, holding it poised in front of them.

_ “Y’ai ng’ngah, yog-sothoth h’ee-l’geb f’ai throdog uaaah.” _

The voice they hear doesn’t make sense. It sounds like a chant, intense and determined, but ultimately incomprehensible. As they move toward where they think the voice is coming from they are not given the satisfaction of understanding the words, but they do get louder, confirming that they’re heading in the right direction.

_ “Ogthrod ai’f geb’l-ee’h yog-sothoth ‘ngah’ng ai’y zhro.” _

As they get closer they think they hear the sound of bells, just far enough away that they don’t know where they come from but they seem to come from everywhere. They feel a buzz of energy not unlike the static before a lightning strike and they smell ozone, but there is not a cloud above to indicate a storm. A sunny summer day that shouldn’t give way to the electricity buzzing on Lyfrassier’s skin.

_ “Y’ai ng’ngah, yog-sothoth h’ee-l’geb f’ai throdog uaaah.” _

The voice pitches louder and sounds closer and closer. Lyfrassier rounds a corner and sees a train car that sits upright and barely rusted at the edge of the old trainyard. It’s painted green with colorful graffiti of every color you can buy spray paint on its surface. Their shoes kick up gravel as they grow closer, movements slowing in nervous energy.

_ “Ogthrod ai’f geb’l-ee’h yog-sothoth ‘ngah’ng ai’y zhro.” _

They think they hear more voices but they don’t come from the train car. They run through their head like background noise, like a ringing in their ears that sounds more like singing. They grit their teeth and draw closer, raising the stun gun higher with shaky hands.

**_“Y’ai ng’ngah, yog-sothoth h’ee-l’geb f’ai throdog uaaah.”_ **

They turn the corner and look inside of the train car. A burst of pain like a splitting headache hits them as they lay eyes on the scene before them. A swirling mess of colors surrounds two figures. The singing in their head grows more intense and loud and the sound of bells pushes against their skull. A figure with long, blonde hair done up in an intricate braid and pulled into a bun kneels before a person lying on the floor, presumably unconscious, yelling their chant in the center of the roiling chaos.

**_“Ogthrod ai’f geb’l-ee’h yog-sothoth ‘ngah’ng ai’y zhro.”_ **

Lyfrassier’s breath catches in their throat as the figure’s hands lift far above their head. Gripped in both of their hands is a shining anthame that glints with the maddening colors. The singing, the chant, the bells draw to their peak. The figure plunges the knife into the figure at their knees.

Lyf doesn’t realize they’re screaming until the figure turns, locking one mad blue eye with their own. Their smiling, calm expression burns into their head as they back up, forgetting their gun among the noise and colors and push against their skull like it’s trying to burst their brain. They recognize that face. They’ve done about a dozen articles seeing that calm expression with the mad look in her eyes.

And as Odin, the mad Odin, smiles at Lyfrassier, a billion, screaming voices burst out, shattering any sense as a great force explodes, centering on Odin.

Lyfrassier is thrown away from the train car, their back hitting the gravel. They feel it cut into their skin where their bare arms hit and scrape through their shirt. They feel their skin burn where the explosion hit. They hear the voices and the bells fade into whispers and begin to replace them with a painful ringing of their eardrums trying to recover. They see, feel, hear the colors that burst behind their eyelids as they try to recover and open their eyes.

The light of the pale blue summer sky stings their eyes as the ringing starts to fade. They still see the barely-there bursts of colors as the edge of their vision and feel the gravel and burns on their skin bite into them. They can’t move, pain lacing through every vein as they hear footsteps scrap against the gravel that draws closer and closer.

Odin appears at the edge of their vision, the same, always the same, calm smile that is burned into their brain dancing across her face.

“You almost ruined my ritual,” she says, sounding annoyed as she looks down at Lyf with a scrutinizing eye.

They gasp as she bends down and grabs onto the front of their shirt. She hauls them up with ease, holding them inches above the ground and letting their feet dangle. They grasp at her hand in surprise, eyes blown wide in fear and breath quickening. As they grab onto her hand they get a surge of emotion far greater than what they’re used to v _ ictory-violence-triumph-po _ **_wer-energy-excitement-bloodlust._ **

“I can’t imagine what would have happened if you actually fired that gun of yours,” she says, her voice almost a laugh.

They can barely hear her over the roiling colors and intense feelings projected directly into them. She curls her fist tighter into their shirt. All of a sudden, they start to burn. A painful, seizing feeling that starts from their hands where they hold her own and twists down their arms and into their chest and they can’t  _ let go and it hurts and it’s burning and they’re screaming- _

Lyfrassier feels a hand with an iron grip grab their shoulder and pull them back. At the same time, someone pushes against Odin. They think it’s the same person but they can’t think clearly as the pain fades and their head pounds and they barely get their footing against the sliding gravel. They don’t know if it’s the pain or the emotional overstimulation or just  _ everything _ but they’re hit with a wave of vertigo. They grab their head with their hand and look up at the scene before them, trying to get a sense of what’s happened and where to run to.

Someone is fighting Odin, kicking and punching and pushing her away from Lyf. They’re wearing a white, short-sleeve button-up with suspenders and a red bandana tied around their neck with a stupid spiked helmet and a black half-mask obscuring half of their face. One of their arms looks like it’s made of dark gunmetal with a black glove over the hand itself. The Baron.

Lyf gets their footing again and watches as the Baron pushes Odin with all his might, sending her stumbling back slightly in surprise. In that short moment, he slides his foot to the left and reaches over, gripping into the air. He swings his arms back in front of him and Lyf hears the loud, thunderous scraping of an entire train car as it comes barrelling toward Odin. It hits her easily and she’s tossed like a rag doll to the side.

The Baron grunts as he lets go of his control of the train car, stumbling slightly as he breathes heavily, shoulders slumped and the one revealed eye wide. He grips at where the metal of his right arm meets his upper arm and grits his teeth as he glares at Odin.

Lyf’s attention is caught by the sound of a gunshot. They whip their head around to see the long, brown coat of Gunpowder standing on top of a crate, his signature flintlock smoking. His expression is calm behind his green-tinted goggles as he lets off another shot.

They follow his aim to Odin, slowly standing from where she was thrown. She smiles up at Gunpowder as a dart hits her shoulder. Lyfrassir knows from interviews with Gunpowder that those darts contain enough azaperone tranquilizer to fell someone twice her size. She doesn’t even falter as she shoots a hand out in his direction.

From somewhere beyond space, beyond time, a serpent’s tail shoots out and coils around Gunpowder. It lifts him high into the air and he barely holds onto the flintlock, shooting another two darts in his panic that land on Odin’s leg and chest.

The Baron continues to pelt her with what he can, stance wide like he’s barely standing as it is. She finally, finally staggers as he drives a piece of sheet metal into her side. Lyf watches as her suit tears and the wound immediately starts to bleed, only for the blood to not look quite right. It looks oily, shining with too many colors and clotting too quickly.

Finally, Lyf gets some sense and starts running away. Unsure of where the exit is and feeling like they’re about to collapse at any second, they duck behind a train car and pull in on themself as they hear the sounds of the battle behind them. They tuck their knees up to their chest and throw their arms over their head, hunkering down with the back against a train car.

Just as they think maybe they’ll be fine over here, a loud _BOOM_ comes too close too loud and the train car they’re leaning against jolts violently toward them. They yell in surprise, jumping to their feet and then falling forward. They flip themselves over, holding themself up by their elbows, to see a dent in the train car where there seemed to be an impact from the other side. A much larger serpent tail coils around the train car, crushing it slightly, and then chucks it toward the metal-masked Drumbot, who tanks the impact with his arms braced in front of his face. He’s clearly where the boom came from.

“Toy Soldier!” the Baron yells, catching Lyf’s attention too.

They look over to see the Baron pull a pistol from nowhere and toss it into the air. The Toy Soldier, somehow sans hat and with a long braid down its back, appears from nowhere and grabs it sturdily. The Baron points up at Gunpowder and the Toy Soldier nods. Lyf looks up Gunpowder, who is still struggling in the grip of the serpent, to see the Toy Soldier appear standing on the serpent, holding the pistol out to the gunner. He grabs it and the Toy Soldier disappears just as quick. He immediately starts shooting but his bullets don’t land where he wants them too, the serpent tail thrashing too much for him to even get a chance to aim.

Serpent tails start to appear and disappear consistently. They track the movement to them trying to get a grasp on the Toy Soldier. They don’t get a chance to grab it, the construct too quick with its constant teleportation to be caught by the lumbering, eldritch serpent.

Suddenly, the Toy Soldier lands eyes on Lyfrassir, locking its gaze with theirs. They freeze in surprise and then are suddenly thrown behind a crate by the solid, wooden form of the Toy Soldier.

“What are you doing here?” it asks, eyes shockingly wide as it crouches behind the crate with them. “This is not a safe place for reporters! Please keep your distance to avoid injury!”

“Odin attacked me,” they say, voice strained with pain. “I don’t know where the exit is.”

“Lyfrassir!” a voice yells from the side.

The Toy Soldier and Lyf both look over to see the Baron running over at top speed, left hand gripping at where his arm meets the metal still. He looks to be in pain but drops down by the two of them nonetheless with a look of concern. Behind him, Lyf sees a layer of frost coat the gravel and solid ice start to coil up the serpent tail that holds Gunpowder.

“It’s not safe for you to be here!” the Toy Soldier says, keeping Lyf from standing up as the Baron approaches.

“I know that!” Lyf seethes, gritting their teeth as their headache spikes.

“Are you hurt?” the Baron asks.

“No shit,” they bite back, not even caring anymore that they’re talking to a bonafide superhero. 

“Toy Soldier, you need to get them out of here,” the Baron says, turning to it.

“No problem, Baron!” it says, giving a quick salute. It looks back to Lyf with a smile. “I think it’s time to sleep now!”

“What? No, I-”

The Toy Soldier ignores them and starts up a tune. Lyfrassier feels an incredible, tiring weight fall over them as it sings. It just barely sees the glow of green light come from the Baron as their vision fades into nothing and their pain falls away.

* * *

Lyfrassir wakes up on their couch in the dark. Light filters in through the drawn curtains and they smell like ash and smoke and oil. Colors burst at the edges of their vision and they still have a splitting headache.

The TV is on. They didn’t turn it on. Someone must’ve, but they don’t remember it. They don’t even remember getting home.

“Reporting live from the scene of what authorities are calling The Bifrost Incident at Yggdrasil Trainyard. Just hours ago a large explosion erupted from the trainyard, alerting the locals and the attention of local superhero group: The Mechanisms.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me @fracnkie or @byron-von-raum on tumblr to, idk, scream at me. As always, betaed by the wonderful KersPastei.
> 
> God, I love writing fight scenes. I haven't written a fight scene in so god damn long. Also, I was definitely bribed into writing more for this AU even when I thought I was out of juice so... this was brought to you by me listening to the Portal OST at 2:30AM and definitely not sleeping!
> 
> I was going to post this after my Lyf introduction fic but I haven't started on that and it's FIGHT TIME BABEY


	2. Strange Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened after Lyf left the Yggdrasil Trainyard?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There has been an update to the tags! Please check them! The amount of chapters has also been increased!

The sun is warm, high in the sky above the City and reflecting blindingly off of the pale concrete of the sidewalk as Marius makes his way back from the corner store, his gripping prosthetic weighed down with a heavy bag of chips, soda, and two pints of personal ice cream. One for himself and one for Lyf. The streets are quiet, the only sounds coming from the highway far off, the occasional car, and the wind blowing through the trees. Marius smiles as he walks up to Lyf’s small house, the overgrown garden dappled with sunlight through the trees.

“Lyf!” he yells while knocking loudly, trying to be as annoying as possible.

He waits for a second for a reply. None comes. He pouts and knocks again, more rapidly and even louder. He switches the bag from his prosthetic to his left hand and knocks against the door with the metal grip. Still nothing.

“Crap, are they at the trainyard?” he murmurs to himself.

He switches the bag back over to his right and fishes his phone out of his pocket as he starts to walk away. While at first, he takes it out to shoot a text to Lyf, he quickly gets distracted by Jonny and Tim arguing in the group chat over whose turn it is to clean the kitchen while TS argues that it can do it and they’re being silly for fighting. He smiles, watching them bicker as his feet lead him to the trainyard. He doesn’t even realize he’s there until he steps off of the sidewalk and onto the weed-choked gravel.

He blinks up and looks over the trainyard. He hasn’t sent a text to Lyf yet, has he? He furrows his brow and shakes his head, looking back down at this phone to send a text when-

He hears a scream tear through the trainyard that sounds like it’s coming from the opposite end of the facility. Marius jumps, dropping his phone to only just barely catch it in the pocket dimension he summons at his feet. He sighs in relief and grabs it again, shoving it into his pocket. He thinks to run in, but… 

He rushes off to the side and throws his phone, bag, and wallet into the Pocket, quickly grabbing his bandana and mask. He throws off his jacket and doesn’t bother folding it as he tosses it in and runs while tying the bandana around his neck. He quickly shoves the mask on his face and goes to take off his prosthetic. He barely gets it off a blast of light and sizzling energy dances in the gaps between the crates. He sees the energy scorch the rusted train cars and he has to blink the dancing colors from his eyes.

Whatever that was, it isn’t right.

He hears the sounds of bells and singing voices just barely out of reach that fades as quickly as they came.

He sucks in a breath and tosses his prosthetic into the Pocket, quickly pulling out a gunmetal arm with barely jointed fingers and a wrist that he quickly straps to his arm. He takes a second to grip it, make sure he can actually get his metal bending to use it properly. Thankfully, he doesn’t have any issue as he continues to rush forward. He goes to grab his tailcoat when a second scream cuts through the air.

It sounds like Lyfrassir.

He hears bells and he hears singing and he hears Lyf screaming as he bolts forward, dashing in and out of the train cars. He barely registers the sight of Odin holding Lyfrassir up by the front of their shirt, a mad smile on her face, before he’s tearing them apart.

He gets a grip on Lyf’s shoulder and tosses them back, pushing Odin in the other direction. He spares one quick glance back to see Lyf stumbling but getting to their feet in no time, holding their head in their hand. That spare moment gifts him a punch to the jaw that _sizzles,_ and that’s not normal. He shouts in pain and surprise and staggers back for only a second. He rushes forwards just as quick, swinging a right hook with the metal hand that hits her square in the stomach. A choking sound spills from her lips as she stumbles, grabbing her stomach. She looks up quickly though, her one eye wide and sparking with unnatural colors that make Marius sick just to look at.

Another metal punch catches her in the chest and a sweeping kick almost catches her knees, but she jumps back just as quick, smiling as she pushes forward a bit, curling an uppercut into Marius’ chest. He staggers, suppressing a cough as he feels something pop painfully in his ribcage. That surely can’t be good. He drives an elbow into her cheek and she spits blood and a tooth out onto the ground. The blood that stains her lips and cheek shines with the same unnatural colors that stain her irises. As he pushes her, she staggers backward, apparently a bit shaken from the successive hits.

The glint of one of the rusted train cars catches Marius’ eye and his gaze lands on one that looks mostly intact. A graveyard of scrap metal as this is, he surely has the upper hand. Still, he hasn’t moved anything that heavy before.

His eye catches on Lyf again, who is still standing around and watching from the side, looking incredibly shell shocked. He doesn’t have time to think about this!

He reaches toward the heavy metal train car and grips his control over the thing. As he drags it over he feels his muscles strain with the effort and his arm starts to ache under the prosthetic. He grunts in pain as he launches the train car, barely an inch off the ground, and slams it into Odin. She, thankfully, goes flying, her shoulder digging into the gravel and her head hitting on the side of a rusted crate.

As soon as he releases his grip on the train car, he feels his muscles ache and his stump shoot up with pure pain. He suppresses a shout of pain and grips at where the gunmetal meets his flesh, barely registering that he isn’t wearing his peacoat but still wearing the stupid glove. It doesn’t matter, he doesn’t have time, he has to get Lyf out of here.

He glares up at Odin as she starts to stand, not looking any worse for wear and her eye only brighter with bloodlust. Normally, Marius would be excited. Now, though, he’s alone and he doesn’t know what powers Odin has anymore with that burning punch and that explosion and the scorch marks on the train cars and he has to make sure Lyf gets out of here alive because Odin is fighting with the intent to kill and-

A gunshot rings out and Marius lets out a sigh of relief as he looks up to see Gunpowder poised on top of a crate, the small amount of wind blowing through his hair and his expression a calming blankness in the face of the wreckage. He lets off another shot that lands in the flesh of Odin’s shoulder, joining the dart to its left.

They’re both surprised to see Odin continue to stand and not stagger even slightly as the azaperone starts coursing through her veins. Her arm doesn’t even twitch as she reels back to strike toward Gunpowder.

Marius gasps in surprise as a scaled limb as thick as his leg shoots out from nowhere, not unlike if it came from his Pocket, and wraps around Gunpowder’s torso. In his panic, Gunpowder fires two more shots of the tranquilizer gun that land perfectly into Odin and continue to do absolutely nothing to her as her face breaks out in a maddening, cruel smile. 

_“Ears!”_ comes a cry from just past Odin.

Marius and Gunpowder both cover their ears on instinct as Odin whips her head around to try to find the source of the noise. A loud _boom_ rips through the trainyard. Marius digs his heels into the ground as the pure power from the sound pushes him backward. Odin, not prepared for the sound or the blast, goes flying backward. Her back hits a rusted old train car and creates a large dent that she crumples into.

Drumbot, face covered by a shining bronze mask in the shining light of the calm summer day, stands in the settling dust left behind by the blast. A smile pulls on Marius’ lips only to be wiped away by the sound of crunching metal that doesn’t come from himself. He turns back to Odin, who slowly stands in the wreckage of the train car. Behind her, the old thing crumples under the coils of an iridescent serpent’s tail. The serpent’s tail rises and hurls the train car into Drumbot, soaring over her head and casting a dark shadow on the scene before them. Marius forces back the urge to lunge for him with a cry of Brian’s name as Drumbot brings his forearms in front of him in a defensive position, legs set in a wide stance to tank the hit of the tonnes of metal that come hurtling at him.

Just as the train car hits, sending the cacophonous sound of tearing metal throughout the neighborhood, Marius sees a flash of red and black within his peripheral. A smile quirks at his lips and he reaches into the Pocket and grasps onto the cold gunmetal of a firearm.

“Toy Soldier!” he yells into the air as he tears the pistol out of the Pocket and flings it in the direction of where he last saw the flash of red and black.

The Toy Soldier appears from nowhere, as expected, and dexterously grasps onto the pistol by the barrel, flipping it over in its hand. It smiles at Marius brightly, a new coat of sealant obvious from the way the sun hits its face. He points up at Gunpowder, who is struggling to hold the non-lethal weapon in both hands as the serpent tail squeezes his ribcage. His face is contorted in pain as his hands shake with the effort. The Toy Soldier nods in return and not a second later appears perched on the serpent tail.

Gunpowder flings the non-lethal flintlock to the ground where it shatters against the gravel and shrapnel. The Toy Soldier offers up the pistol, which he takes in an instant. Just as quick as it appeared, the Toy Soldier disappears back onto the ground as Gunpowder aims his pistol, level with Odin’s torso. The serpent’s tail trashes violently, throwing off his aim as the sound of gunfire is deafened over the sounds of yelling that come from the edge of the trainyard and the bells and singing and _noise_ that is coming from absolutely everywhere and nowhere at the same time. 

More iridescent serpent tails with roiling, colorful scales appear from nowhere as Odin stands at their epicenter, encasing her in a protective shield as they trash about. Marius ducks out of the way of one as it cuts into the ground, leaving a gash where he once stood. Most of them aim for the Toy Soldier, who zips around, appearing and disappearing as to avoid the thrashing limbs. 

Then it stops. It sees something. It disappears and Marius has no idea where it went off to until-

“This is not a safe place for reporters!” he hears its voice come from behind some of the more intact train cars. “Please keep your distance to avoid injury!”

Marius runs toward it. Nobody should have come in here. Normally Drumbot or the Toy Soldier would keep someone away. As he’s running he feels his pulse in his arm, red hot pain shooting into his shoulder. He grits his teeth and grabs onto it, trying his best to push through it.

“Odin attacked me,” a way-too-familiar voice grits out, strained with pain. Marius’ heart drops into his feet. “I don’t know where the exit is.”

“Lyfrassir!” Marius yells before he can stop himself, dashing around the corner.

Lyf lies on the ground, face contorted in pain as they look up and meet his eyes. They’re holding their head in their hand, their fingers tearing hair from their braid. Behind him, Marius can hear the sound of cracking frost and shouts of the other Mechanisms.

“It’s not safe for you to be here!” the Toy Soldier says, looking back to Lyf as they try to stand. It puts a hand on their shoulder, gently pushing them back down.

“I know that!” Lyf yells at it, eyes squeezing shut briefly as a grunt of pain breaks past their gritted teeth.

“Are you hurt?” Marius asks as soon as he’s close enough, dropping to his knees by Lyf.

“No shit,” they bite back, glaring up at him.

Marius inhales sharply and looks back at the Toy Soldier. “Toy Soldier, you need to get them out of here,” he instructs.

“No problem, Baron!” it confirms, giving a two-fingered salute.

It turns back to Lyf and Marius starts concentrating on healing whatever is causing them pain. It puts both hands on their shoulders and smiles down at him.

“I think it’s time to sleep now!” it says cheerily.

“What?” Lyf asks, confused. Their eyes flicker between Marius and the Toy Soldier in a slight panic. Marius bites back his guilt. “No, I-”

The Toy Soldier ignores them and starts to sing a slow, languid tune. Marius plugs his ears briefly as he watches Lyf’s eyes flutter shut. Any objections fall off their tongue as they peacefully drift off to sleep.

“Give me a second to heal them,” Marius says with a sigh as he takes his fingers out of his ears.

The Toy Soldier watches with a sad expression as Marius’ hand starts to glow a soft green. It holds on softly to Lyf’s shoulders as he rests his hand on their forehead. Any lasting tension peels away as Lyf is limp in its grasp

“I’ll be back in no time, Baron,” it promises, giving a soft smile. “Your Lyfrassir will be good as new!”

“He’s not “my” Lyfrassir, TS,” Marius sputters, looking up with wide eyes. 

“Of course they’re not!” it’s tone is teasing. “They’re also Brian’s and Raph’s and Ashes’ and-

Just as Marius goes to hit it, knowing it can’t actually feel any pain, it disappears, leaving him with red cheeks and ears and an embarrassed but pouty expression. He’s quickly distracted by the sound of a gunshot followed by shattering glass.

He turns and stands to see the tail that was once wrapped around Gunpowder is left in frozen fragments on the frost-covered ground. Now released from its grasp, he plummets from about 40 feet up. Marius gasps in surprise, shooting up to run back to the scene. Out of nowhere, a golden shadow swoops down and catches Gunpowder in a bridal carry.

“Baron, catch!” Icarus yells, Alexandria smiling from her place clutching onto her back.

Gunpowder immediately grabs onto her lapels. “No the fuck you won’t!” he yells and Marius agrees but apparently neither of them get a say in it as Icarus practically shoves Gunpowder out of her arms.

Marius rushes forward in terror, only for a flash of red and black to catch Gunpowder in the exact same bridal carry, disappear, and reappear directly below on solid ground. Gunpowder clutches onto the Toy Soldier’s jacket with a vice grip, eyes probably wide behind his goggles, as it gently sets him down. It gives Marius a quick salute and brief smile before disappearing again. He can barely hear its voice drift through the sound of bells, singing, crunching metal, crackling frost, and… fire?

Marius and Gunpowder turn back to the scene to see almost all of the Mechanisms together, the only two missing being the Toy Soldier and Drumbot, who are probably doing crowd control at this point. Marius lands his eyes on Hades as they rush forward and then suddenly crouch, putting their hands on the ground below.

A line of flame lights up and advances toward Odin like a trail of lit fuel starting from where Hades’ hands dig into the gravel. It reaches inside of the ball of tentacles and erupts like an explosion. The sound of many voices screaming, the singing cut short, cuts through the air. In only a couple of seconds, the sound of screams dies down. D’Ville stands by Hades’ side, holding a silver microphone into the air that glows a bright, glittering gold as he channels the screaming into the object.

The tentacles retreat in the burning pain, curling in on themselves and leaving Odin exposed to the warm summer air and the licking flames that surround them. She screams much louder than any human should be able to. Her hair is a roiling mess of rainbow above her, torn from her intricate braid, and her eye is a vast expanse of stars as she stares out at the heroes that surround her.

“All shall know my rule to be the last!” she screams in too many voices that are barely heard as they coil into the microphone and are muted against the crackling flames. “None shall survive my reign!” As she yells this, the serpent tails attempt to manifest and coil around her, curling back from the flames. “I am the serpent that shall poison the sky and boil the sea!”

“And a fucking pretentious one at that,” d’Ville grumbles. “Hades, firewall.”

Hades doesn’t respond but they twist their hands in the gravel and stand, swinging up their arms. Simultaneously, the flames rise high, surrounding Odin in a 40-foot circle of unbreakable fire. They smile wickedly as the screams grow louder and then quieter again. D’Ville cringes at the sound, fist curling tighter around the microphone. The sounds of the flames grow louder than they should and the golden glow around d’Ville’s microphone swirls with a bronze tint. 

“Drumbot and the Toy Soldier are successfully keeping the crowd behind the fence,” a robotic voice tones from where Aurora Striker stands, shivering as she shoves her hands into her pockets and frost curls up her heavy coat.

“Let’s finish this, then!” Gunpowder yells, leveling his gun at Odin’s head as she screams. He immediately staggers as he raises his arms, a cry of pain escaping his lips. “Fuck, I think she broke something.”

“On it,” Marius immediately says, jogging over to Gunpowder and immediately setting to heal with a hand on his back. Gunpowder raises the gun as he waits for the healing to work, fighting past the burning pain as he moves.

“What’s the plan?” Icarus asks as she lands, Alexandria climbing off of her back.

“Well,” Alexandria immediately starts off, stepping forward past the others, “it seems she has both weakness to Hades’ fire and Striker’s ice. Or, at least the tails do. Aurora has informed me that she also has accelerated healing, is that true?”

“Barely a crack in her facade from my projectiles, dear,” Icarus says. “Bleeds oil but heals quickly.”

“Right, of course,” Alexandria nods. “So if Gunpowder can land a lethal shot we should be able to take her down without a problem.”

“Is that legal?” Striker asks, not sounding too concerned about it and rather curious.

“She has a body count and has been deemed by authorities as a wanted criminal,” Alexandria says. “We should be fine even if people knew who we were well enough to try to sue us. If nothing else, Medi Co. Law should take care of any charges well enough.”

“At least the bastards are of some use,” d’Ville grumbles, shifting his shoulder from having to hold the microphone up for so long. “Can we get a move on? My arm hurts like a bitch.”

“Be glad you’re useful for something, cowboy,” Striker quips.

“Moving on,” Alexandria says quickly, shaking her head as she tries to focus and remember her plan. “Striker, run past the flames and encase her feet in ice as well as freezing and shattering any tails in front of her. When she stops moving, Gunpowder, I need you to land a shot at her head.”

“Easy,” Gunpowder says and is glad that he’s healed by the time he chuckles because that definitely would have hurt otherwise. Marius steps away.

Striker nods and takes about two steps forward before disappearing into a blur. The others watch calmly as she rushes through the flames too quickly to be burned and a black blur starts to circle Odin. None of them can hear her scream past the sound of the flames and the muting effect d’Ville keeps a hold on. The sound of crackling frost and shattering glass barely makes it past the noise as the tails fall to pieces under Striker’s careful strikes. 

“Now!” Alexandria yells, swinging her head to look at Gunpowder.

On cue, he takes the shot. He doesn’t miss. The bullet hits Odin between the eyes and she immediately slumps down, oil pooling under her head. Marius thinks it’s rather anticlimactic, in his honest opinion, but apparently he’s supposed to value getting a job done over the theatrics of the ordeal.

Either way, Odin crumbles, her upper body falling limp as from the hips down she’s encased in frost and biting ice. The flames die down, a very visible scorch mark surrounding her in a perfect circle, and Striker slows to a stop, stumbling.

“Fuck, I’m dizzy,” she says, blinking rapidly.

She staggers toward the group and Marius hears the robotic chuckle of Aurora from her pocket. D’Ville grabs onto her arm and she leans into him, getting her bearings.

“Reporters here in T-10 minutes,” Aurora says.

“Oh great,” Gunpowder grumbles, handing his pistol off to Marius, who quickly shoves it away. “Who wants to deal with them?”

“I can do it,” Marius says quickly, then winces when he realizes Lyf won’t be one of said reporters.

“I would like to explain what happened to Odin to the reporters,” Alexandria offers, pulling out her phone to check something, probably what notes she was able to take to remember.

“I updated my costume!” Icarus cheers, flitty about slightly. “Anyone notice?”

“Hm,” d’Ville squints at her and brings his hand to his chin, shoving the microphone away as the glowing fades out. “Oh, you finally added a shirt that covers your wrists and stomach.”

“Aw, that’s a shame,” Alexandria says, looking up.

Icarus blushes, setting a hand on Alexandria’s head. “Yes, I did do that,” she nods. “Anyway, I want the news to see so I want to do… something.”

“I’m sure we can figure out who gets to say what,” Alexandria says, shrugging.

“T-9,” Aurora chimes.

“Do you think Reporter Lyfassir will be here in time?” Icarus asks.

“Uh, I don’t think they work weekends,” Marius says quickly.

“What a shame,” she says. “Well, maybe they heard the noise. It was quite a loud boom when it first happened. I, uh, I mean, if they live anywhere near here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again betaed for the lovely KersPastei. Sorry this took so long, I have been,,,, v busy. Find me @link-ink or @byron-von-raum on Tumblr and please check out #thespectacles tag on the second one for some new music!


	3. Expert Testimony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened after the Bifrost Incident?

“Reporting live from the scene of what authorities are calling “The Bifrost Incident” at Yggdrasil Trainyard. Just hours ago a large explosion erupted from the trainyard, alerting the locals and catching the attention of local superhero group: The Mechanisms.”

Lyf groans as they sit up from the couch. Their muscles strain and ache and their head still pounds against their skull, like their brain is trying to escape. They swallow down the pain and throw their legs over the side. They blink a few times, adjusting to the bright TV screen in the dark of their living room. They cringe slightly at the smell of sweat and smoke coming from their torn clothes as they try to recall how they got in this state.

“What can you tell us about what happened here?”

“Allegedly, the supervillain Odin started a ritual in this trainyard that caused the explosion. Our interview with the Baron gives us insight into just what went down here.”

The screen cuts to a prerecorded interview. The Baron stands in front of the camera, looking worn out. He’s smiling, though, and he looks somewhat intact. He’s wearing his green tailcoat now and… right, Lyf remembers that he wasn’t wearing that before. He’s still gripping his arm, though. Lyf was there, weren’t they? They look at the trainyard behind the Baron, ash and ice and metal scattered everywhere and smoke coiling from half-burnt debris. It wasn’t that much of a mess when Lyf left. When did they leave?

“I was just patrolling the area when I heard the explosion,” the Baron explains. “I rushed over and saw Odin, you know the one? That one governor who went mad after losing an election? Oh, wait, yeah, you know that. Sorry. Anyway, I saw Odin and she didn’t look right. Her skin looked like rainbows and she was holding someone up by their shirt. I didn’t get the chance to identify them because I went to separate them, but I think they had dark skin and long, white hair in a braid. Didn’t look too great, but I got them apart.”

_ “Lyfrassir!” _

_ “Are you hurt?” _

_ “Toy Soldier, you need to get them out of here.” _

“I think they ended up running away. Gunpowder got on the scene next and tried to subdue her, but the azaperone wasn’t taking and she wasn’t going down. She used a new power that she isn’t registered for that we think she obtained through the ritual to capture Gunpowder in what looked like a snake tail. When Drumbot arrived, he tried to use his sonic boom in hopes it would loosen her grip on Gunpowder, but it didn’t seem to work and she barely registered any pain.

“At some point, she got a hold of the Toy Soldier and it wasn’t able to teleport out of the snake tail. What did loosen their grip was when Aurora Striker froze them. At that point, Gunpowder was able to shatter the tail with a bullet and they seemed to disappear from existence entirely.”

“So Odin had a whole new power set?” the news anchor cuts back in.

“We have insight from the Library Alexandria on exactly what she thinks caused the power surge in Odin.”

The feed cuts to the Library Alexandria. She wears a full face mask. It’s white and entirely featureless, no holes for her eyes. It’s stark against her bright red hair but she isn’t muffled when she speaks.

“There is a 68% chance that Odin summoned a creature called the Bifrost,” she says in a clipped tone. “This creature, when summoned, sent out a blast that centered on Odin and gave her an additional power set at the price of what little grip on sanity that she had. Thankfully, it seems no one else was harmed by the explosion that we know of.”

_ “Y’ai ng’ngah, yog-sothoth h’ee-l’geb f’ai throdog uaaah.” _

_ “Ogthrod ai’f geb’l-ee’h yog-sothoth ‘ngah’ng ai’y zhro.” _

_ “Y’ai ng’ngah, yog-sothoth h’ee-l’geb f’ai throdog uaaah.” _

_ “Ogthrod ai’f geb’l-ee’h yog-sothoth ‘ngah’ng ai’y zhro.” _

_ “You almost ruined my ritual.” _

_ “I can’t imagine what would have happened if you actually fired that gun of yours.” _

“What did the Baron tell you? No, I did not hear of this. If you’ll excuse me…”

Alexandria quickly leaves off, walking out of frame. The feed cuts back to the live newsroom.

“Do we know how they managed to take care of Odin?”

“Icarus gave us the scoop on how Odin was taken down!”

The feed cuts to Icarus. The frame is filled by the large, yellow feathers of her wings. She wears a gold and white masquerade mask that has elegant filigree and a beaked nose, making her resemble a bird even more than she already does with those wings of hers.

“I arrived not long after Aurora Striker and caught Gunpowder as he was falling. I brought Alexandria with me, and she told me exactly how and where to hit her with the magnet projectiles. I threw up a strobe screen and Hades pulled up a wall of fire to keep Odin from advancing. d’Ville made the flames sound loud to Odin so she couldn’t hear Alexandria and him telling us when to strike and where. Aurora Striker was sent in to encase Odin in ice and Gunpowder landed the final shot.”

The feed cuts back to the live view of the trainyard. There’s significantly less smoke and there are police milling about looking for evidence and checking the remains of the blown apart train car.

_ They turn the corner and look inside of the train car. _

_ A swirling mess of colors surrounds Odin and the corpse. _

_ The singing in their head grows more intense and loud and the sound of bells pushes against their skull. _

_ She kneels in front of the corpse and yells her chant in the center of the roiling chaos. _

_ She plunges the knife into the corpse at her knees. _

“We are told that the final shot to Odin killed her not long after. Unfortunately, as the EMTs looked over her, a burst of light blinded the officials and she disappeared. We do not know if she is still out there or-”

They click off the TV and bury their head in their hands. Flashes of color fill their vision as they press the heels of their hands into their eyes. They don’t know if they’re from the pressure or if they were already there.

* * *

Lyfrassir doesn’t know how long they’ve been sitting on the couch with their face in their hands. It’s probably been too long but they lost track of time hours ago. No light reaches their eyes past their hands and the only sounds at the occasional creaking of the house settling and the birds outside singing. 

They hear bells

They hear chanting.

They hear singing voices.

They hear a knock at their door that is very distinct and not anything else.

They jump in surprise, tearing their head from their hands. The house is still dark, not a single light on and the TV shut off for ages now. They blink rapidly and look to the window. Daylight filters through the curtains. They still smell like sweat and smoke and- oh right, the door.

They shake their head as they stand, ignoring the painful popping of their joints and the aches that pull at every muscle as they roll their ankles and twist their joints. As they walk toward the door, they flip on the lights, trying to make it look like they weren’t sitting in the dark for an undetermined amount of time.

The noon-day light strains their eyes and only adds to the headache that is trying its damnedest to split their skull open as they open the door, the old thing creaking on its hinges. Standing in the door, haloed by light, is Marius, a smile on his face. Lyf returns it, subtly holding on tight to the door.

“Hey!” Marius exclaims, and Lyf tries not to cringe at the noise. At least it’s not bells.

“Hi,” Lyf responds, voice croaking with the exhaustion that wracks their body.

They glance over Marius and get a twinge of… interest tapping at the back of their head. He isn’t wearing his prosthetic. Now, that isn’t the oddest thing, he doesn’t wear it all the time but he does  _ most _ of the time. For some reason it feels important, Lyf cannot figure out why.

“Not wearing your arm today?” they ask.

“Hm?” Marius tilts his head. “Oh! Ah, no. It’s been a bit inflamed and I didn’t wanna risk it.”

“As long as you’re taking care of yourself,” they say, rolling their eyes. “Did you want to come in? Sorry, I wasn’t expecting you to pop in today.”

They step aside, letting Marius come in, which he happily does. “Yeah I was going to come over yesterday but you weren’t in and then there was that huge thing at the trainyard and-” Marius stops in the living room and pauses for a second as Lyf comes in. “You… Hey, this is gonna sound weird,” he says, turning to Lyf, who leans against the wall trying to make it look like they aren’t doing so for support, “but… were you that person at the trainyard the Baron was talking about?”

They startle slightly, eyes widening on impulse. They bite their tongue, though, tapping their foot slightly. “Oh, um,” they stutter. “Uhm, no, not me. I was getting lunch.”

Marius taps his fingers against the side of his leg, standing awkwardly in the middle of the living room. “That’s good it’s just, uh,” he bites his lip. “Well, the description sounded a lot like you and you haven’t been out of your house for the past day and you didn’t text me saying you were alright which you swore you would do if you’re anywhere near a villain attack and this seems to qualify because you live  _ right here, _ and-”

“Woah, woah, Marius,” Lyf says, pushing off the wall. They stride to Marius in quick steps. “I’m super sorry for worrying you but I’m fine, see? All in one piece. I swear I’ll text you next time.”

Marius visibly winces and Lyf pretends not to see it. They furrow their brow and look away, trying to think of a way to make this better. Marius being here is already helping them calm down but stressing him out is only going to make them feel worse. They swallow their guilt and slowly go in for an apologetic hug, snaking their arms over his shoulders. He freezes for a second, maybe surprised, maybe concerned, but he eventually brings his arm around Lyf and leans into them slightly.

As they both pull in more, Lyf’s head barely brushes against Marius’, but it’s enough for the emotional link to zap like an arch of electricity between them both and suddenly Lyf is flooded with too many emotions at once, their vision almost whiting out from the surprise of  _ concern-care-worry-knowing-hurt-concern-love-care-regret-needtohelp-concern-care-wanttotell. _

They stumble into Marius slightly, their headache spiking and the feeling of someone tapping at the back of their head turning into something closer to a persistent woodpecker.

_ Bells and singing and screaming. Is that what they sound like? _

_ They see themself held up by a maniacal, smiling Odin, screaming screaming screaming in pain and they bolt forward. _

**_Needtohelp-love-regret-concern-fear-fear-fear-regret_ **

_ “Are you hurt?” they ask with not their voice, not their voice. _

_ “No shit,” someone that is them, in pain, glaring back up at them in not their body, snaps. _

**_Regret-concern-care-love-fear-concern-concern._ **

_ Their own eyes flutter shut but not the ones they’re looking through. They sigh through not their own lips and put a hand that isn’t theirs on themself. They say something in the voice that isn’t theirs but they don’t hear it as the glow of green erupts from not their hand and splays around their chest. _

**_Regret-regret-love-concern-knowing-worry-concern-care-wanttotell-needtohelp-love._ **

When they’re back to themself, they’re no longer standing. The lights in the room are dim and they’re pretty sure they’re sitting on their couch again, a soft hand rubbing circles into their back. Their back feels warm where the hand touches.

**_Healing-love-worry-healing-help-helpthem._ **

Frantically and before they can think any further, they reel back and grab at the wrist of the hand on their back, tearing it in front of them. They barely register Marius yelp in pain as Lyf yanks at his arm. They do see the flickers of green fading off of Marius’ fingertips, so quick and fading that if they didn’t Know, they would think they were seeing things.

And the things appearing from nowhere and his ability to pick up things just too heavy to be feasible but only when they were made of metal and and and-

“Ow, ow, ow, Lyfrassir,” Marius whines, not yanking his arm back as Lyf twists it at a weird angle, trying to see where the green disappears to.

“Baron,” Lyf says, simply, eager to get that persistent pecking at the back of their head to go away and glad when the word eases some of the pain.

“Wh-what?!” he says, now trying to pull his arm away.

“Your…” Lyf lets go of Marius’ arm enough to let him pull it back, staring absently at the coffee table. “Your… your fucking legal name is Byron, you fucking idiot!”

They whirl around and smack him on the side of the head, just enough to sting a bit. Bewildered, Marius jerks back, his hand going to where Lyf hit him. He blinks rapidly, confusion obvious even if Lyf wasn’t grabbing his hand and getting a burst of  _ confusion-worry-confusion-regret _ sparking down their arms. A bubble of manic laughter springs from their chest as they turn and look up at Marius.

“Oh, you wonderful idiot,” they continue, bringing a hand up to their face to cover their eyes.

They don’t notice that they’re still holding Marius’ hand until he tightens his grip on their own, a nervous laugh bubbling up from his own throat.

“Uh, not to kill… whatever mood you have going on here,” he says, hesitance halting his words, “but what in the hell makes you think that?”

“I-I uh,” Lyf takes a moment to breathe, letting their hand fall to their face. They still don’t take their hand back. “I uh- you know how I have that, uhm, empathy power, right?”

“Yeah, of course,” Marius looks absolutely bewildered and it’s sort of cute in a way but they’re still trying to… focus, explain whatever just happened.

“It feels like it was ramped up to a twenty and, uh,” they blink rapidly, gazing down at their laced fingertips.

**_Concern-adoration-worry-hesistance-fear-fear-worry._ **

“It’s like when I felt your emotions, when we were hugging, it made this… connection!” They look away from their hands and flit their gaze around the room, biting their lip in a nervous habit. “Like it connected to a memory that held the same emotions and… I don’t know  _ why _ it happened I think it- it has something to do with whatever Odin did at the trainyard!” They look up, eyes wide and bright as they lock with Marius’. “She- she buffed her powerset, right? Well I- I got caught up in the explosion before that and that’s why I was already so messed up by the time you got there and, god, if you hadn’t healed me I’d be a feeling a lot sorer than I am right now but when you were healing me-” they grip tighter on Marius’ hands and catch a slight grimace flit across his face at the pressure, “-when you were healing me you felt the same emotions as when we hugged just now!”

Marius looks away nervously, his ears turning red at the tips. “And what emotions were those?”

“Uh,” Lyf looks down at their hands for a second, trying to remember. “Well, there was, uh, concern and… regret, which makes sense I guess cause you would be the kind of idiot to blame himself from a situation I got myself into… and a lot of worry which is understandable but there was  _ always- _ ”

A knock came at the door, interrupting Lyf’s train of thought. Marius’ hand slips out of theirs and he shoots up, speedwalking toward the doorway. As soon as Marius’ hand is off theirs, their headache spikes. Makes sense, they think, he was probably doing some passive healing to help them not be in constant pain from… whatever is happening.

“Who’s at the door?” they ask, grimacing as they stand.

“I texted Brian to come over when you kinda, uh, fell into me,” Marius calls back, all the way by the door by now. “Should I not have?”

“No, it’s fine, I-” 

They stop, squeezing their eyes shut. They’re only halfway to the door by the time they feel a pit in their stomach and rush to the bathroom on instinct. Their feet fall heavy on the hardwood floors and the door slams against the wall with as much force as a scrawny journalist with a migraine can muster.

“Lyf?!” Marius calls back as they throw themself over the toilet and dissolve into a coughing fit, holding their head in one hand.

In the midst of their coughing, they barely hear the door opening and closing and the sound of Brian and Marius walking up behind them. They do notice the hand in their back, rubbing slow circles against their spine. A warmth spreads through their back that they feel such familiar care to that, as their coughing dies down and the pain in their head starts to ebb away, they nearly sob over.

“Marius what are you doing?” Brian hisses out, just barely above a whisper.

“It’s fine,” Marius says, a placating tone glossing over his words. “Are you alright, Lyf? Maybe we should take you to the hospital.”

They hear a couple footsteps approach that they can only assume is Brian. “Uhm, unless you want to be the subject of some weird tests I don’t suggest that.”

Eyes still closed, they hear a hissed grimace from Marius. They didn’t throw up entirely but that didn’t stop a bit of gross base to crawl up the back of their throat and get expelled into the toilet. They pry open their eyes and see… an awfully weird sight. 

There’s an oily substance spreading like film on top of the water, shimmering in the light in rainbows that… god, there’s that pecking at the back of their head again that apparently even the Baron’s healing can’t get rid of.

They close their eyes again and brace themself on the toilet to stand, their legs shaking under them. Marius immediately goes to brace them, a hand on their shoulder and close behind them in case they fall again. By the time they open their eyes and look around, the bathroom is significantly dimmer and Brian, who stands awkwardly in the doorway, is looking around in confusion.

“Does your bathroom have an auto dimmer?” he asks in a bewildered tone.

“Uh, no,” they say, feeling the pecking growing stronger. “I think I’ll address that… much later but, uh…”

They look up to meet Brian’s eyes. His brows are furrowed and shoulders hitch, somewhat wary. They know he saw Marius heal him from the hissed snaps they heard and from that they can also guess that Brian knows who Marius is. The pecking is incessant and they’re grabbing Brian’s hand before they can stop themself. Distantly they hear Marius yelping a warning, gripping onto Lyf’s shoulder harder but all they can sense is  _ concern-surprise-fear-regret-worry-worry-needtohelp-annoyance-love-surprise. _

_ “What do you mean they were here?!” they- no it’s Brian’s voice, they can figure that out at least- Brian exclaims. _

**_Concern-concern-surprise-annoyance._ **

_ “I didn’t want the reporters harassing them or anything,” the Baron says, standing in front of the group of… The Mechanisms. He stands in front of the Mechanisms and from what they can see past his mask he definitely looks hesitant and somewhat regretful. “Or- listen I… didn’t wanna risk it. I had, uhm, they went home, they’re fine, I made sure of it. _

_ “Are you positive?” the Library Alexandria asks. _

_ “I healed them and everything!” _

**_Worry-worry-annoyance-regret._ **

_ “You’re sure they’re alright, Marius?” Brian asks and this time it’s just the two of them. Marius doesn’t have his mask on and he looks… worried but resolute, staring off into space as they both sit on the roof of a building. _

_ “I’m pretty sure,” he sighs. “I had the Toy Soldier send them home after, uh, we made them pass out. No blunt force I swear, just a siren song.” _

_ “I’d hope.” _

_ “Anyway, if they don’t text us or anything I’ll check in on them tomorrow, okay? And I’ll text you if anything goes wrong.” _

_ “Promise?” _

_ “I promise, you incessant Drumbot. I’d punch you if I thought you’d feel it.” _

_ “I think that hurt more than the punch,” he jokes. _

_ “Oh, lay off it.” _

**_Worry-fear-concern-love-concern._ **

“Lyf, Lyf, come on,” Marius’ voice cuts in. He has his arm wrapped around their shoulders, pulling them in flush with his chest to keep them steady. Brian still holds their hand, a fearful look on his face as Lyf’s senses transmit the same.

Lyf blinks as they come back to themself, their eyes focussing on Brian.

“You’re both superpowered idiots,” they grumble, leaning back into Marius more.

“Hey, hey!” Marius yelps, stumbling slightly. “We need to do some actual first aid and that is not going to happen if you knock me over.”

“I don’t want to walk anymore.”

Exhaustion pulls at their bones as they slump into Marius almost completely and he barely catches them.

“Ah,” he grunts. “I can’t carry you with one arm, Lyf.”

“Fine,” they whine, stumbling to their feet.

They barely notice that they’re still holding hands with Brian as he guides the two of them back into the living room. Marius still has a hand on their shoulder that is emitting a constant warmth that gets almost too much before he shifts to their other shoulder, sitting down with them on the couch. 

As Brian gives them a check-up with mumbled instructions and whatever he can with a small medic bag, Marius murmurs explanations over their head that they barely make out.

“Think Odin did something-” “-caught in the explosion-” “-wish I got there sooner-”

“Hey!” Lyf exclaims, barely above a speaking volume.

“Huh- what?” Marius says, cutting himself off.

“Not your fault, you idiot,” they grumble. “My fault for hanging out in a sketchy trainyard in my free time.

Marius doesn’t respond to them, instead giving a slight, halting laugh and bringing his hand up into their hair. He slowly starts working out the tangles as he continues to explain why Lyf suddenly knows that the two of them are superheroes, at which Brian gives a slight sigh and a shake of the head.

“Well, there’s nothing obviously wrong,” Brian says, standing up only to sit down on the coffee table opposite Lyf. “Expect the concussion, that is. Which, uh, considering… whatever you did in the bathroom to make the lights dim might not be a huge problem. Have you slept at all?”

“Not a wink,” they say. “I think I just dissociated for twelve hours.”

“That’s not ideal,” Marius says.

Brian sucks his breath in through his teeth and purses his lips for a second, thinking. Eventually, he goes in for a hug, which Lyf accepts without a sound, slotting their head into his neck, a feat they would not be able to do while standing.

“I’m… really sorry,” Brian mutters.

“It’s not your fault,” Lyf says resolutely.

“No I’m-” he sighs. “Having this many powers… sucks. The drawbacks are immense and it leaves you feeling really tired. I don’t know how you compare to… whatever Medi-Co had going on, but I’m sure it still feels like a lot. Just… we’re here to help you, you know. And I’m sure if the other Mechanisms knew they would help you as well.”

“You’re not going to tell them?”

“They don’t know we know you for real,” Marius says, leaning into them enough to drape across their back, still threading his fingers through their hair. “We only have each other.”

“Well…” they shift so they can look at Marius somewhat. “Now it’s the three of us, right?”

Marius chuckles. “Right.”

And that rush of  _ love-adoration-care-affection-tenderness-fondness _ is so sweet they might just cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUCK, this took a while. Sorry for the wait! Writer's block is a bitch.  
> Once again beated by the lovely KersPastei. Find me @fracnkie or @byron-von-raum on tumblr!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Normality in the Mechanisms Cinematic Universe](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25192174) by [epicmusic42](https://archiveofourown.org/users/epicmusic42/pseuds/epicmusic42)




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